


The red house

by jo_flores



Category: No Fandom, Original Work
Genre: F/M, Outer Space, Post-Apocalypse, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-26
Updated: 2020-02-26
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:08:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22904488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jo_flores/pseuds/jo_flores
Summary: How would you feel if you had to move to another planet? Max is forced to surrender his freedom in exchange for surviving away from earth, away from home.
Relationships: Max / Val





	The red house

He lived on a predetermined planet. In a predetermined home with a predetermined wife, just like everyone on Mars. He tried to remember the exact moment when his life no longer belonged to him. He was just a ten year old boy who had just returned from summer camp. 

27 years had passed, but he could never forget the unbearable heat of the city and his mother's face of terror when the men in green with rifles hanging from his shoulder appeared at our door. Shortly after, they were in the high-propulsion ship that would transport them to their new home. 

If he had known then that his mother had decided to surrender his freedom in exchange for survival, he would have refused. God, how I missed the air of earth.

On the other hand, the air of Mars was toxic outside, and synthetic inside.

\- It’s for our own good darling, otherwise we would die on that agonizing planet.- his mother had said. A few years later she died anyway.

The truth was that, when the high command announced that all the inhabitants of earth had to choose between staying there to die on the inevitable apocalypse, or moving out to Mars in exchange of surrender our free will, she didn't think twice, and now he had to bear the consequences. I didn't even really know if the earth had perished in the supposed apocalypse.

Of course, there were countless conspiracy theories that believed the government did not find a better way to control the human race, than to invent the whole issue of the end of times; other more realistic theories, thought that the air of the earth had become unbreathable. Actually, he didn't even care. Everything was preferable to this crappy life.

He had also heard rumors of rebel factions fighting against the high command trying to regain control of his freedom, but they were nothing more than legends. Besides, if those factions had ever existed, he would never join them because, in the first place, he lacked the courage to do so, and secondly, because the desire to return to earth was greater than his desire for freedom.

Okay, a little freedom wouldn't hurt. Who were they to make decisions for him? Who were they to choose his job or the woman with whom he would share his entire life? Damn it - he thought while staring at her. She noticed his look of slight disgust.

-Don't look at me like that. You know we should try to get along, Max. I don't like this shitty life either, but what will happen to us if we don't follow orders is worse.

-Do you really believe that? - he replied.

-You know I do! Sending you back to the red planet is the worst punishment!

-Green. Before, they used to call earth the green planet, and Mars the red planet. Why would they call the earth the red planet? It makes no sense!. 

\- Right .- said his wife. - You know that I would love to answer all these crucial questions for humanity, but I must meet Nina at 46 o'clock and I'm already late.

That was exactly what drove him crazy. It seemed that everyone had forgotten that this wasn’t our planet, and nobody cared! A collective brainwashing to live in denial. Perhaps that is why mankind had adapted so easily to Mars. Adapt or die. There was no other option.

And he had really tried to adapt.

He married Val when they were both 18 without even knowing each other beforehand. The ceremony wasn't romantic at all. Instead, it had been the same impersonal garbage as the rest of the ceremonies. No one mentioned that, if we refuse marry, we would receive the same punishment that most feared. Back to the red planet, fantastic.  
Over the years he had come to love her, not as a husband should love his wife, more like a good friend who endured and appeased him when he was going through his "I really hate Mars" phase. 

Valerie was a graceful woman with an affable nature, and he thought that in any other situation he would feel attracted to her. However, the fact that they chose her for him, or vice versa - he had no idea what the process of relationship building was like - was an obstacle. Even so, they had managed to endure torture all those years.

Either way, I had a point. Nobody wanted to go back to earth, because nobody really knew what was going on in there, except for the transporters that carried tons of garbage to earth, but none of those people says anything, only God knows why.

When Val came home, she found him looking at the stars through his glass window with the lights off.

-I'm back!. And why the hell are you sitting in the dark? - she asked.

-A telegram came from the high command. I heard it as soon as it arrived. You should too.

She caught his tone instantly, so she pressed play and the figure of the high command communicator appeared in the room. The projection began to speak.

_"To Max Kindell and Valerie Morgan. As you know, the most important thing for us is the survival of mankind. That is why you have been assigned to the reproduction program. The first day of next month you must present at section C to remove your birth control chip and proceed to insemination. In the case of refusal, the deserter must sign a petition to return to the red planet within one week. And remember, on Mars we must adapt, or die. "_

When he heard the message the first time, he lost his temper completely. The telegram had just announced that they would be forced to father a child, something he definitely didn't want. He was beginning to panic when he realized ... this is what he had been waiting for.

He had never realized until he heard it. It was his ticket back to earth. He would finally go home, he would be alone but he would be free. He would see trees and green mountains again, breathe the cold air and smell flowers. Then, he began to feel something he hadn't felt in years. Pure and simple happiness.

Val looked at him without saying anything.

-I'm leaving- he announced. I can't stand this planet anymore. I will go back to mine

-I knew one day you would. When will you leave? - she replied.

-Tomorrow night.

-Well.- She said standing up. - I'll stay with Nina until the day after tomorrow

Twenty minutes later she returned to the living room with a bag in her hands.

She put her arms around his neck and kissed him.

-You know?. I think if we had met on earth, this marriage would have worked. I really hope you survive on earth.

\- I know - he replied with a smile.

And she left without looking back. 

Him and other 3 people aboard the ship landed in an open field at dawn. He was one of the first to get off the ship. He took a breath of air that flooded his lungs. He watched the rays of sunlight making their way through the mountains. 

-Home- he thought. I'm finally home. He tried to hear the sound of birds he always loved as a child, but he couldn't hear anything other than the ship's engine still working.

He took a deep breath again, but this time it hurt. A second later, his whole body felt like burning. With despair he began to scream. The pain was unbearable, he felt on fire. 

-They didn't send us to earth!- he thought. They sent us to hell.  
And horrified while screaming in pain, he watched his arms filling up with burns, turning his skin into red.


End file.
